


Commitment

by Mersheeple



Series: Hearts&Cauldrons Prompts [25]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, Oblivious Severus Snape, Post War, Severus Snape Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:15:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25365964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mersheeple/pseuds/Mersheeple
Summary: They were just friends. Only friends. Who sometimes slept together. Or went out together. Or stayed in together. Or went to weddings together. They were just friends weren't they?
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Severus Snape, background pairings
Series: Hearts&Cauldrons Prompts [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1805746
Comments: 20
Kudos: 133





	Commitment

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Thecrazybgilr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thecrazybgilr/gifts).



> I may choose to explore some of the mentioned pairings at some point.
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing Oblivious Severus. Bless his cottons...
> 
> Thank you for the lovely, simple prompt B! <3

It was a one night thing. A quick fling. Mostly the relief. That’s what she told herself. He was alive, she was alive, they had both survived horrors that no one else would understand. So, it had happened. Fast and dirty and aggressive. It was only a one night thing.

It had happened again, the day she returned from Australia. She had gone to his address, waited the three minutes it took him to open the door and then thrown herself at him, sobbing into his chest and dampening his shirt. He rocked her gently, stroking her hair in silence. He was always silent. He never said anything to spoil the moment.

He took her upstairs, damp shirt still clinging to his chest, stripped her clothes and slid into her. It was soft and sweet and beautiful. It was only going to happed once like that so he put all his emotion into it and she put all her care for him into it too.

It happened again. And again. And again. Every time she swore it was the last time, she would go to him. Every time he swore to himself that he didn’t really want her anyway. Every time he said goodbye knowing it could be the last time.

She went on dates. Nothing ever happened. Often, she would go to him, complain about whoever had set her up, or the person she had seen. He didn’t mind. Sometimes she would fall asleep on his sofa, curled up and soft like a child. Other times she would fall asleep in his bed, panting heavily beside him, never touching him as she fell asleep. As if that were some taboo, something she could not do. It was just a casual thing anyway.

No one knew about them of course. She made sure that she never mentioned him and who, exactly, would he mention her to? No one ever came to see him except her. They became too frustrated when he would gesture instead of speaking, not really considering the fact that his throat still hurt. 

It was just a casual thing. Until she asked if he wanted to accompany her to a Ministry Ball. He said yes, having received the invitation himself and not wanting to find another date. They were just going as friends. That’s what he told himself.

She was stunning and he felt his trousers tighten. He hoped that they would, possibly, maybe, hopefully go back to his place after the Ball. But if she found someone else while at the Ball…well, it wasn’t like it was a real date was it? They were just friends.

She kissed him. On the lips. At the Ball. In front of everyone. All her friends. All his friends. All the people he knew. She kissed him. And he kissed her back. And then she smiled and grabbed his hand and Apparated them back to his place. It was just sex then. That’s all it was.

It had been six months of this strange situation. She would invite him out somewhere, he would say yes, she would kiss him and then apparate them back to his place and end up in bed together. It was just sex. It was just a casual arrangement. It was fun, it was lovely, he enjoyed it, but it didn’t mean anything to her.

It had been three years that their situation had continued. They received invitations together, they went for dinners out. Sometimes they stayed in and read together. She rarely left his side. When she did, he felt it keenly. But she wasn’t living with him per se. She just spent most of her time with him.

They attended a number of weddings together. Harry married Susan Bones. Ron Weasley married Lavender Brown. Ginny Weasley married Luna Lovegood. Neville Longbottom married Draco Malfoy. She caught the bouquet and laughed at his face when she explained what it meant. He had looked at her with a frown, wondering if it was something she had wanted. With him.

It had been five years since she had caught the last bouquet. Five years since the last of her friends had got married. They all had children, by blood or by heart, they all had children. Harry and Susan had two, a boy named James Matthew (after both their fathers) and a girl named Ruby Lily (after their mothers). Ron and Lavender had a daughter, Rose. Ginny and Luna had adopted three children in a very short amount of time; Lorcan, Grayson and Tabitha-Rae. Neville and Draco had adopted twins and performed a Blood Magic Adoption, causing much controversy, but eventually no one talked about how Scorpius Abraxas and Columba Alice Malfoy came to be.

She never asked about children or weddings or…anything like that. It was just comfortable. It was just nice. They babysat for their friends sometimes. They were known as Uncle Severus and Auntie Hermione. But it was just nice.

He turned to her one day, after fifteen years of their nice, comfortable existence and wondered if it was time to change things.

“Hermione, would you like to move in with me?” It was a commitment right? She rarely left him anyway. It didn’t make sense for her to have her own rent to pay as well.

“Severus, I sold my flat twelve years ago. I merged our bank accounts five years ago. I think the only thing left to do is get married.”


End file.
